City Economic Director, Fred Blackwell and Mayor Jean Quan, as the Oakland City Council went on to approve the budget proposal to make a drastic $28 million cut to its current budget, eliminating about 100 jobs in a major city reorganization prompted by the loss of redevelopment funds. in Oakland, Ca. on Tuesday January 31, 2012.

Photo: Michael Macor, SFC

City Economic Director, Fred Blackwell and Mayor Jean Quan, as the...

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This is a view of the newly re-designed Oakland, Calif., Coliseum Arena on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 1997. After a year of construction work, the Golden State Warriors will have their home season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 8.

Here's how Oakland city officials reacted to the news that the Golden State Warriors basketball franchise was a stone's throw away from announcing a new waterfront stadium deal in San Francisco:

"We are still in direct dialogue with the Warriors about the opportunity to build a new arena," said Fred Blackwell, an assistant city manager. "We have always been aware that they are exploring all their options, including a San Francisco site. We continue to believe that Coliseum City offers the best new home to the Warriors, Oakland A's and Oakland Raiders."

So, it's true. Denial is not just a river in Egypt.

It doesn't matter what Oakland city officials promise or believe. It's a safe bet that by 2017 the team will again be known as the San Francisco Warriors.

For Oaklanders, the most disappointing aspect of the Warriors' anticipated move to San Francisco isn't the loss of an NBA franchise, it's the abysmal and desperate 11th-hour attempts by City Hall to persuade the team to stay.

The Oakland City Council in March approved $3.5 million for the study of "Coliseum City," a new stadium complex that would include retail, office and commercial development in the shadow of the O.co coliseum and Oracle Arena.

But the proposal - Oakland's version of the baseball village planned in 2007 to lure the A's to Fremont - came much too late and lacked any specifics about how such a mega-deal would be paid for. And although the city retained a group led by HKS Inc., an architectural firm, to design a new stadium complex and help attract private investment for its financing, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan never did appear to make keeping the Warriors - or any of the professional sports teams - a top priority.

Now, Quan did inherit a full-blown mess from her predecessor, former mayor Ron Dellums, who did nothing to advance the discussion to keep the Warriors - or the A's and Raiders.

In the case of the Warriors, it's not about attendance figures, adequate facilities or the age of Oracle Arena, where the team has played since 1971. It's about panache and style and public perceptions. Oakland's hard-edged image complements the Raiders' bad boy reputation, but it was always viewed by Warriors owners, past and present, as an albatross weighing down the team's standing.

In 41 years, despite repeated attempts from city, county and coliseum authority officials, the Warriors have flat-out refused to include their host city in their name. But I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that will not happen in San Francisco. Blackwell, formerly a San Francisco city administrator, said Oakland is battling not only competition from San Francisco, but a strong desire from the team's ownership to relocate across the bay.

"It's been clear to me the new owners have been interested in San Francisco since acquiring the team," Blackwell said "For that reason, from my perspective, it's difficult to compare our pace and productivity to San Francisco because of that desire."

Emotionally, the loss of the Warriors in Oakland is no great shakes. The team never embraced the city that has produced an extraordinary amount of NBA talent dating back to Bill Russell.

But Oakland city officials long ago needed to give their professional sports teams reasons to stay instead of reasons to leave. They just struck out with the Warriors, and they're facing an 0-2 count in their efforts to keep the A's in town.